Tag Archives: risk

Last week was the State Opening of Parliament in the UK following the General Election, this included the Queenâ€™s Speech which set out the legislation the Government intends introduce in the coming Parliament. As expected, Brexit dominated the headlines and so you may have missed the announcement of the Space Industry Bill.

The space sector has been a growth target for the Government since 2010, when it set an ambitious target of delivering 10% of the global space economy. The last UK Space Agency report covered 2014/15 and indicated the industry was worth ÂŁ13.7bn â€“ equivalent to 6.5% of the global space economy.

Our space industry is inextricably linked to Europe through the European Space Agency (ESA). Whilst, as we have described before, Brexit wonâ€™t affect our role in ESA, other projects such as Copernicus and Galileo are EU led projects and the UKâ€™s future involvement isnâ€™t clear. This Bill is part of the Governmentâ€™s response, and its aim is to make the UK the most attractive place in Europe for commercial space activities.

Weâ€™ve previously written about the current UK licencing and regulatory arrangements for anyone who wants to launch an object into space, as detailed in the Outer Space Act 1986. This Bill will change that framework and has the following key elements:

New powers to license a wide range of spaceflight activities, including vertically-launched rockets, spaceplanes, satellite operations, spaceports and other technologies.

Comprehensive and proportionate regulatory framework to manage risk.

Measures to regulate unauthorised access and interference with spacecraft, spaceports and associated infrastructure.

Measures to promote public safety by providing a regulatory framework to cover operational insurance, indemnity and liability.

The Bill itself is based on the draft Spaceflight Bill published in February, together with the Government responses to the twelve recommendations of the Science and Technology Committee Report on the Draft Spaceflight Bill which was issued on the 22nd June.

There are still a number of questions to be answered over the coming months.

Limited Liability: Currently, the standard requirement is to have insurance of at least â‚¬60 million. However, the draft Bill suggests that insurance requirements will be determined as part of the license application process. Clearly, the different types of spaceflight will have different risks and so having flexibility makes sense; however, until the industry understands this aspects it will be a concerning area of uncertainty.

Spaceports: Previously, the Government intended to select a location for a spaceport, but last year this changed to offering licences for spaceports. This means there could be multiple spaceports in the country, but it is questionable whether there is sufficient business to support multiple sites. Given the specialist knowledge and skills needed to launch spacecraft, it is likely that a preferred site will eventually emerge, with or without Government involvement.

Speed of Change: Back in 2012 the Government acknowledged that regulations for launching objects into space needed to be revised as they didnâ€™t suit smaller satellites. Since that time satellites have got even smaller, constellation launches are increasing rapidly and costs are decreasing. The legislation and regulations will need to evolve as quickly as the technology, if the UK is to be the most attractive place to do business. Can we do this?

The UK Space Industry is in for a roller coaster over the coming years. Brexit will undoubtedly be challenging, and will throw up many threats; whereas the Space Industry Bill will offer opportunities. To be successful companies will need to tread a careful path.